Diabetes ECHO

Addressing Diabetes Disparities

Training and Support for Diabetes Management Professionals

Diabetes ECHO is designed to provide a consultative link between specialists and community clinicians throughout the state via videoconferencing technology. Its goal is to provide consultations through case review of patients living with diabetes and to train primary care clinicians to become experts in the care and management of diabetes and diabetes-related conditions so that patients can receive timely treatment in their own communities. The ECHO model™ develops knowledge and capacity amongst community-based providers through the use of technology to leverage scarce resources, sharing of best practices to reduce disparities, using case-based learning to master complexity and monitoring outcomes using a web-based database.

ECHO functions on a “hub and spoke” model with an interdisciplinary, team-based approach. For this Diabetes ECHO, Well-Ahead Louisiana will serve as the “hub” of specialists, including an Endocrinologist, an Internal Medicine Physician, a Certified Diabetes Educator, a Nurse Practitioner, and a Cardiologist and a Podiatrist.


Well-Ahead proudly recognizes November as National Diabetes Month and Nov. 14 as World Diabetes Day


Well-Ahead proudly recognizes March 25 as Diabetes Alert Day


Diabetes ECHO 2025 registration is now closed.

If you still have interest in joining, send an email to wellahead.projectecho@la.gov


The scheduled ECHO clinics function like virtual grand rounds via real-time, interactive videoconferencing, using the platform Zoom. During ECHO sessions, providers present de-identified patient cases to expert teams who mentor the learners to manage patients with complex conditions. This is an all teach, all learn, safe space!

Sessions will be held every other week for one hour. Physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners and pharmacists are able to obtain continuing education credits for participation in Diabetes ECHO sessions. Once you have registered, a Diabetes ECHO staff member will reach out to you with more information.

64

Cases presented

66

Total sessions

CE Credits issued

497

158

Providers trained


What to Expect

Structure of an ECHO Session:

  • Introductions
  • Case presentation
  • Recommendations
  • Didactic presentation

Diabetes ECHO Objectives:

  1. Establishes a Community of Practice by engaging in a virtual community with their peers
  2. De-monopolizes knowledge and amplifies the capacity to provide best practice care for underserved people in rural Louisiana
  3. Provides front-line clinicians with up-to-date knowledge and support they need to manage patients with complex conditions in the patients’ own communities
  4. Increases provider confidence and self-efficacy in treating patients with diabetes

Download the Diabetes ECHO Participant Guide to learn more.

“I am better equipped to have those conversations with my patients and refer when appropriate. This session was extremely interactive and provided extensive information”.


Meet the Hub Team

Christine Castille,
FNP-C, BC-ADM, CDE

  • About

    Christine Castille is a Family Nurse Practitioner, board certified in Advanced Diabetes Management. Christine is passionate about partnering with healthcare providers, staff, and patients to reach quality healthcare goals. As a nurse practitioner and healthcare consultant, her career has included a focus on multiple aspects of diabetes and related conditions such as hypertension, renal disease, and obesity as well as working for and collaborating with payors and ACOs. Recently Christine’s passion for supporting healthcare providers, empowering patients and researching integral aspects of patient adherence has led her to work with VMS biomarketing.

Anthony
Decuir, Jr.,
DPM

  • About

    Decuir was born and raised in New Orleans and attended Brother Martin High School and Xavier University of Louisiana. He attended Podiatry School in Chicago at the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine and received his Podiatric training at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. After practicing for one year in the New Orleans area, he moved to Baton Rouge, where he has practiced for the past eighteen years.

Satish Gadi,
MD, FACC, FSCAI

  • About

    Dr. Satish Gadi is an interventional cardiologist who has been practicing in Baton Rouge since 2010. He did much of his training including residency, fellowship, etc. in New York and now works with the Cardiovascular Institute of the South which has been serving Southern Louisiana for 35 plus years. Dr. Gadi in addition to being a cardiologist, has a special interest in PAD—both diagnosis and management.

Raven
Jackson,
PharmD, MBA

  • About

    Raven Jackson has taught in several courses within the pharmacy curriculum including neurology therapeutics, interprofessional education, medication therapy management, point of care testing, professional practice and pharmacogenomics as well as an infectious disease point of care testing lab. As a component of her clinical position, Raven has also served as a preceptor for both advanced pharmacy practice experiences, introductory pharmacy practice experiences, and the ambulatory post graduate year 1 Pharmacy Residency program at West Jefferson Medical Center – The Family Doctor’s Clinic. She provided diabetes medication management and polypharmacy medication reconciliation services. She also provided med consults to the Surgical Center at West Jeff.

Dragana
Lovre,
MD

  • About

    Dr. Dragana Lovre is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine (Section of Endocrinology), where she also completed her Clinical Endocrinology Fellowship. Dr. Lovre is board certified in internal medicine and endocrinology. Her clinical and research interests focus on cardiovascular complications of diabetes with special interest in women’s health and obesity. She is involved in “Diabetes is Primary Program” by the American Diabetes Association, which delivers easily accessible continuing education to meet the needs of busy primary care providers, and also clinical trials in diabetes at Tulane University.

Vy Anh
Mai,
MD, MS

  • About

    Dr. Vy Anh Mai received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and her Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri. She also obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Research Methods degree at Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr. Mai joined the Section of General Internal Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics in 2019. Dr. Mai practices primary care at Tulane’s Uptown Multispecialty Clinic and actively sees patients of all ages. She has an interest in academic medicine and supervises residents in the Internal Medicine/Pediatrics clinic.

2023 Diabetes ECHO Schedule

DateTopic
December 14, 2023Balancing patients with T2DM and CKD

Diabetes ECHO Sessions


Need Assistance? Connect with Us!

Name(Required)

Provider Resources

Patient Resources

Accreditation

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Louisiana Department of Health, Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Healthcare Access and Project ECHO®. Project ECHO® is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), and the American Association of Physician Assistants (AAPA) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. AMA Designation Statement: Project ECHO® designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. ACPE Designation Statement: This activity will provide pharmacists up to 1.0 contact hour. UAN JA4008231-9999-23-022-L01-P has been assigned to this Knowledge based program for Pharmacists. CE credit information, based on verification of live attendance and completion of the program evaluation, will be provided to NABP within 60 days after the activity completion. ANCC Disclosure Statement: Project ECHO® designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 ANCC contact hour.  Nursing contact hours will be awarded for successful completion of program components based upon documented attendance and completion of evaluation. AAPA Designation Statement—Live: Project ECHO® has been authorized by the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credit. Physician Assistants should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation. Disclosure Statement: Project ECHO®, in compliance with the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, requires that anyone who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity disclose all relevant financial relationships they have had within the last 24 months with an ineligible company. None of the following planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients: Taunya Williams, MHA; Tammy Son; Raven Jackson, PharmD; Christine Castille, FNP-C, CDCES, BC-ADM; Anthony Decuir, Jr., DPM; Vy Anh Mai, MD, MSc. The following planners and presenters listed below have disclosed that they have a relevant financial relationship with an ineligible company: Dragana Lovre, MD (Principal Investigator, Novo Nordisk); Satish Gadi, MD, FACC, FSCAI (Speaker, AstraZeneca); and Satish Gadi, MD, FACC, FSCAI (Speaker, Amgen). All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.